


Airboat!

by SkyWrites



Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Flying, Gen, Humor, Post-Canon, Traveling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:29:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28293858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyWrites/pseuds/SkyWrites
Summary: With the worlds reunited, our four heroes have been traveling across the globe searching for and ridding the world of Exspheres. One day, Regal comes to them with a proposition: help him test his newest business idea! A flying vehicle meant to carry multiple passengers at once! Needless to say, of course they accept.But will being cramped together in a small space for such a long period of time prove to be too much for them?! Or will their bonds prove to be stronger than ever?It's not like anything else could go wrong.
Relationships: Colette Brunel/Lloyd Irving, Lloyd Irving & Colette Brunel & Zelos Wilder & Sheena Fujibayashi, Sheena Fujibayashi/Zelos Wilder
Comments: 6
Kudos: 6





	Airboat!

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the Colloyd Secret Santa discord! My gift goes to Nii! She asked for all kinds of prompts from flying together, to bonding time, to (Lloyd Colette Sheena Zelos) traveling together, and I personally love getting tons of prompts like this! So I did the smart thing and thought, 'Let's smush as MANY things together as possible.' 
> 
> The ships here are very minor and mostly implied, but since this is the Colloyd Secret Santa, Colloyd will be a bit more obvious. Expect some Sheelos and other little implications of maybe more than friendship or maybe not?? Who knows! What a mystery... But you can for sure expect friendship and bonds between everyone!
> 
> Merry Christmas!

“You know, Regal, when you requested us for something to do with flying, I didn’t expect this,” Lloyd said, looking confused. “I thought it’d be more like Colette, Zelos, and I flying with our wings??”

Regal nodded solemnly, as that was the only way he knew how to nod. “I understand,” he said, as someone who would never understand Lloyd’s mind. “My request may seem strange and sudden, but I feel you four would be perfect in aiding my company, Lezerano, in testing our new flying vehicles.”

Zelos, as always, was skeptical. He lounged against the cushy company couch; legs crossed. “What do you need new flying vehicles for anyway? Aren’t Rheairds good enough?”

Sheena rolled her eyes at Zelos. She did this all the time, yet for some reason seemed to choose to sit next to Zelos every chance she had.

“A valid point,” Regal said in a stoic tone that revoked validity. “But Rheairds are only capable of carrying one, maybe two passengers at best.”

“I can carry Noishe with me on my Rheaird!” Lloyd interrupted unhelpfully.

“That’s… still just two, bud.”

“Two is a good number!”

Colette giggled, frankly just happy to be here. “It is! I like two… too!”

Sheena frowned. If one looked too hard into it, one would think she was hurt by their comments. “There’s four of us, though.”

Lloyd held up a finger, proud of himself. “Yeah, but! Four is _double_ of two, so that’s even better!”

Regal cleared his throat, politely returning attention back to himself. “I would never challenge your mathematical skills, Lloyd. However, Rheairds remain inaccessible to the general public.”

Thinking he was complimented, Lloyd smiled before whispering into Colette’s ear. “What’s that mean?”

Colette quickly whispered back, as if she knew he’d ask that, “He means most people don’t get to fly around like we do.”

Lloyd’s eyes widened in realization. “Oh man, that’s so true…”

“Yes,” Regal continued, “My vision is a world where everyone can fly, where anyone can travel from place to place, across both worlds, regardless of monetary situation.”

Lloyd shot up and Colette followed along with him. “That’s just like reuniting the worlds in a way!”

Finally, Regal allowed himself a genuine smile. His dark blue suit, pinned with gold wings at his chest, looked stunning, professional. It was also the first time the group had seen him wear a hat. It matched his suit, dark blue, trimmed with black at the cap. He looked just like a captain…! …who had just gotten arrested. Because Regal still hadn’t gotten rid of his handcuffs. For some reason.

Everyone knew better than to question that.

Sheena, as always, cut to the chase and keep the group focused. (Mostly.) “So, let me get this straight, you just want us to ride in your new flying vehicle?”

Regal nodded. “Correct. With the help of my company and using a few ideas from the Rheairds—”

“Stolen ideas, hm?” Zelos smirked.

Regal fumbled over his words, but continued nonetheless, “We at Lezerano have created a prototype flying machine meant to hold multiple passengers. I chose you four because you all already know what it is like to fly and can give better feedback. And simply because you are all my trusted allies.”

“Aww!” Colette said, hugging Lloyd’s arm. “We love you too, Regal!”

“Helps that it’s free, too” Zelos said. Sheena punched him in the arm. “Ow! What?!”

“It’s very generous of you to offer,” Sheena replied, more diplomatic than the noble Chosen. “Especially since you’re taking us to our next destination anyway. Are you sure it’ll be okay to fly us all the way to Flanoir?”

“Yeah,” Lloyd said with a serious nod. “We heard that the Penguinists over there stumbled onto a whole mess of Exspheres and are learning how to use them to power their sleds and generally harass people.”

“They’re very cute,” Colette added, “But they really shouldn’t be using the trapped souls of humans to look for fish…”

Regal either ignored that last bit or was very accustomed to Lloyd and Colette’s strange banter. “I’m aware of your situation and I can assure you that I will get you to Flanoir safely. I am the only certified pilot of these new vehicles, so you can rest easy knowing that your lives are in my hands.”

Zelos couldn’t help but look at Regal’s handcuffs, noting how his hands must have been very difficult to use.

“Well, we already said yes, so I guess let’s get going?” Zelos shrugged. “What could go wrong?”

Sheena punched his arm once more. “Why do you have to say that every time?! You _know_ it jinxes us!”

“It’s fiiiine,” Zelos said, waving it off and rubbing his arm.

“Yeah, it’ll be okay, Sheena!” Colette bounced up before her. “Regal’s driving! We’ll actually be able to rest for once!”

Lloyd hopped behind Colette’s shoulder cutely. “Yeah! Besides, if anything goes wrong, it’s up to Regal to fix it since we don’t know anything about it! Not us! We have nothing to worry about.”

“Urk…” Sheena quickly stood up to follow Regal.

Regal, however, didn’t feel the need to get involved with their usual shenanigans. He was much more content to lead them to their destination. The group followed him through some double doors and a few hallways, chatting away as they did.

* * *

“Whoa…!” Colette and Lloyd murmured in amazement, the bright Meltokio sun shining down on them from deep blue skies.

The Lezerano company had been expanding for years, so it made sense to build a new headquarters in Meltokio. It was practically the capital of both worlds after all. But it wasn’t just buildings they were working on here, no.

The group stood on a huge ‘runway,’ as Regal called it, that cut through the nearby plains on the outskirts of Meltokio’s walls. It stretched out far into the distance, and then seemed to abruptly end near the sparkling ocean.

“I see why it’s called a runway!” Lloyd shouted. “You could run at full speed for a whole minute and you’d never make it to the end!”

Colette perked up as well, always copying Lloyd’s excitement. “Wow! Even you couldn’t do it, Lloyd?”

“Maybe I can! Should I try?!”

“Yeah! I’ll cheer you on!”

Sheena sighed as Zelos grabbed Lloyd by the scruff, keeping him in place as he tried to sprint out into the horizon. Sheena said, “Please don’t encourage him, Colette…”

“Aw, I just want Lloyd to live his dreams…”

Regal very politely, but also very loudly, cleared his throat. “Ahem. Yes. As I was saying…” His dark black shades reflected all light out of his eyes. Zelos had to admit how cool Regal looked, even if he looked like an escaped convict in a bad disguise. “Our vehicle is right over here. Considering we will be using it to navigate the skies similarly to how many people use a ship to cross the ocean, I have deemed to call our new prototype flying machine…”

The group stopped what they were doing and leaned in, mesmerized. What sort of creative name would Regal come up with for a flying machine to surpass Rheairds?

“An airboat.”

Sheena nearly fell on her face from the shock of it. “Wouldn’t… wouldn’t an air _ship_ make more sense?”

For a split second, a gurgle escaped Regal’s throat like he had been stabbed with a lightning blade. “Er. I suppose so. Like I said, it is a temporary name. I will… take your criticisms into consideration.”

The airboat, or airship, glimmered under the sun’s rays. It was _definitely_ bigger than a Rheaird, that was for sure! Huge wings extended out farther than even Lloyd’s arms (he made sure to measure it that way.) fitted with all sorts of technological marvels. Unlike the Rheaird, this thing was fitted with _multiple_ engines at its wings and backside, not just the one underneath!

But… that wasn’t all.

“IT’S NOISHE THEMED!” Colette and Lloyd screamed together. The machine was painted in dark green, light green, and white just like Noishe’s fur. The front of the plane looked like Noishe’s snout even! And then… could it be…?! “Paw pad designs?!”

Regal smirked, unable to hide his pride. “Yes. This genius design was actually Presea’s idea. I’m delighted you all have taken such a liking to it.”

Zelos looked upon the airship in horror. It was like a mishmash of a grown man and a small child’s ideas, and neither ever thought to tell the other, _‘Is this too much?’_

“Tell me I’m not crazy, Sheen,” Zelos whispered, barely heard above Lloyd and Colette’s cheering. “It’s bad, right?”

Sheena didn’t miss a beat. “It’s awful. Like, I get the idea, but…”

“Even Noishe would be embarrassed.”

“A Katz could design something better.”

“Ooh, Sheena, honey, that’s harsh, but fair! I like it.”

Colette turned to them, her smile brighter than the sun. “Isn’t it wonderful? It’s so cute!!!”

Zelos and Sheena together turned into a sweating pair of mush. “Uh! Yeah! It’s, uh, great!” Sheena lied.

“L-love it!” Zelos gave a half-hearted thumbs up. He quickly rushed back to her ear and whispered, “What have you done to me? The old Zelos would have torn into this!”

“Oh, it’s _my_ fault you don’t wanna hurt your friends’ feelings?” Sheena argued quietly.

“Yeah! I bet it is!”

Regal cut through the cheer like a wooden sword through an apple gel. “Thank you for your kind words, but we should prepare for boarding.” He reached up at what could only be described as the airship’s ‘ _cute furry tummy’_ and pulled down some stairs leading up into the ship.

“That’s SO cool!!” Lloyd yelled, scampering to Regal. Colette, wings out in pure excitement, fluttered behind Lloyd, stars in her eyes. Lloyd was about to sprint up before he stopped, gears turning in his head. “Wait. Wait. I need to ask you something, Regal.” His tone went serious. He flicked a switch, turning into the swordsman that could slay a god. “How is this powered? It’s not… Exspheres, right?”

Regal shook his head. “Of course not, Lloyd. You know I would never use an Exsphere again if I could help it.” Lloyd breathed a sigh of relief along with Colette. “Again, much like the Rheairds, this airboat—er—airship uses Volt’s mana. We’ve found that the Temple of Lightning is a much safer source of energy and have been lobbying at every chance we get to switch to mana instead of Exspheres across the globe. Or. Globes? No, just globe.”

“That is GREAT!” Lloyd said, happy to switch back to his regular self. “Thanks for the info!” He shot finger guns at Regal as he ran up the steps with Colette flying in after.

Zelos shrugged and made his way in. Sheena stalled at the stairs, something thumping in her chest. She was annoyed to find it was her heart.

“Are you nervous?” Regal asked gently. For a rich criminal-looking man, Regal was always surprisingly perceptive and caring.

“A little,” Sheena admitted. “I’ve… fallen more times in my life than I care to think about.”

Regal nodded. “So has Colette.”

Sheena side-eyed him. “Those three have wings built in.”

“All the more reason not to worry,” Regal said with a genuine smile. “If we were to fall, I’m sure one of them would catch you.” He chuckled. “Maybe even me.”

Sheena’s eyes fell to somewhere else, to some other time. “You don’t think they’d let me fall, huh…?”

Regal’s expression hardened. “Well. Even if, somehow, we all failed to save you, Sheena… I think a master summoner such as yourself would also find a way to fend for yourself.” He shook his head. “But I do not think it will come to that. It will do us no good to catastrophize. Things are different now. We’ve all grown, we’ve all changed for the better.”

Sheena sighed. “I hope so.” She stepped inside the airboa—airship.

* * *

“Seats!!!” Lloyd shouted, throwing his hands up into the air and accidently hitting the ship’s ceiling. “Oh, man, Rheairds usually need us to stand and when we do sit there’s no back support…”

Regal smiled. “That’s right. While there’s only three rows and two seats on each side on this prototype, I plan on the finished product to be much bigger. This airboa—erm—airship can fit about twelve or so people. If all goes according to plan, my airships will potentially be able to hold a hundred passengers all at once! Possibly more.”

“That’s so amazing!” Colette cheered, still hovering over the ground. She couldn’t help it; she was just so excited. “People will be able to cross between our worlds just like we do!”

Zelos grinned. “Whole lot better than just regenerating the world, huh?” Colette giggled happily in response. “Gotta admit, Regal, more rich people should be like you.”

“Aren’t you rich?” Sheena grumbled. “Why don’t you follow his and _your own_ example?”

“Aw, come on, I’m _trying_ aren’t I?”

“Try harder!”

Colette frowned. “I think Zelos is trying plenty hard enough!”

Sheena practically broke down, never able to go against Colette’s optimism.

“Thanks, angel,” Zelos said smugly. “You always have my back!”

“Wing friends!!!” Colette cheered, showing off her rainbow wings.

“Wing friends!” Zelos repeated, doing the same.

“Wing friends?” Lloyd repeated uneasily, looking at his blank back.

“You don’t count, bud,” Zelos said. “For one, your wings are weird, and two, you can’t even bring them out again.”

“Don’t listen to them, Lloyd,” Sheena said, moving towards the sad lad. “You don’t need wings to be cool.”

“Sheena’s right and Lloyd’s wings aren’t weird!!!” Colette shouted, clearly still riding a little too high on her excitement.

“Aw, even the sweet angel abandoned me already…” Zelos mourned, slinking into a seat by the aisle.

“Ahem.” Regal cleared his throat _very politely_ yet again. “We’ll be taking off soon. Please find your seats and buckle up for our initial ascent. Once we reach a safe altitude, I will let you know when it’s safe to move around the airship. I shall be in the cockpit, but please only come in if it’s an emergency.”

“Do not laugh.” Sheena glared at Zelos who was grinning like a red-headed demon.

“Cockpit you say, Regal…? OW! Sheena!”

“I don’t get it.”

“It’s just where Regal will be steering the airboat—er—airship from, Lloyd!”

“But why is Zelos laughing and why is Sheena smacking him?”

“Don’t worry about it!” Sheena shouted, pulling Zelos’ hair like one would pull a bad dog’s leash.

* * *

**Falling Fear**

After much deliberating on who should sit where, (There were only three seats per row! But there were four of them! Colette wanted to sit next to Lloyd, but she also wanted to sit next to everyone! And Zelos of course wanted to sit between Sheena and Colette, but Lloyd wanted to be near Colette—and this went on for much too long. Eventually they settled with Lloyd and Colette on the row to themselves on the left, and Sheena and Zelos on the right.) Regal could _finally_ begin take off.

When the engines rumbled to life and shook the entire vehicle shuddered, Sheena instinctively grabbed the armrests. She wanted to sit in the aisle, so she wouldn’t have to look out the window. Lloyd, who wasn’t a great flyer, _really_ wanted a window seat.

“Heeey, Sheens, what’s the matter?” Zelos leaned in, eyebrow raised. “You’re not scared of flying, are you?”

Colette noticed the discomfort in Sheena’s expression as well. She leaned over the aisle, concerned. “Should we tell Regal to stop? I’m sorry, I didn’t know! You always flew on the Rheairds with us, so I thought…”

“I’m fine!” Sheena grumbled. “Just! You know! Went through a lot of falls in my life, okay? And when we fly, I usually have control over things!”

Lloyd quickly peeked out from Colette’s side, his attention from the wings at the window already gone. “Oh, man! I guess you’re right. But don’t worry, Regal’s flying! He’s great at it!”

Colette nodded. “I admit, I was worried about Regal flying a Rheaird at first… You know, the handcuffs and all…” She smiled and mimicked a ‘handcuff’ motion with her hands. “But he turned out to be a great flyer!”

Sheena grimaced, and for once Zelos frowned. “Angel, I don’t think this was a good time to remind her about Regal’s hands.”

“Oh!” Colette fiddled with her hair, looking guilty. “I’m sorry.”

Lloyd piqued in again, finger raised. “I’ve got an idea! You won’t be worried about hands if we all hold your hands!”

Sheena groaned, and Zelos stared. “I don’t think that’s how this works, bud.”

The airboat—airship bumped as it slowly began to lurch forward. Sheena yelped and grabbed Zelos’ hand. Zelos went through a whole ride of emotions over his face. Surprise, smug, and finally a weird concern yet happy smile that the group never really got to see. He held her hand tight and didn’t even ruin it.

Colette reached out across the aisle as well. “Um. Sorry again for saying something dumb.”

Sheena gulped but shook her head. “It’s fine! Really! Don’t worry, I’m—AAH!” The airship began to speed up, the force of it pressing them all back into their seats a bit. She clasped Colette’s hand quickly enough, strangely finding it more soothing than she expected.

“Aw, man, I can’t reach…” Lloyd pouted.

“Even if you could, she doesn’t have three hands, bud,” Zelos said. “Plus, I think she’d feel the safest with the two Chosens that actually know how to use their wings.”

Huh. Zelos actually wasn’t wrong. That was another soothing spritz of water splashed against Sheena’s nerves. Maybe one person couldn’t stop her from falling, but two…? Like Lloyd always said, that’s double the power.

“Here.” Colette offered Lloyd her free hand. “You can hold mine! Then it’ll be like holding Sheena’s!”

Lloyd nearly exploded. “That’s _so_ smart, Colette! Okay, let’s do that!”

Sheena could not possibly understand how they were all able to talk like this while the airship was going so fast, but she had to admit, yet again, it soothed her.

The airship slowly, ever so slowly, began to lift, and Sheena felt it in her gut. She shook her head and held the Chosens’ hands tightly. They squeezed tighter back in response.

“I’m also squeezing harder!” Lloyd shouted.

“It’s true!” Colette added.

Sheena couldn’t help but laugh. Her friends were all so weird. But they were all so genuine. Even Zelos! Once that pressure in her stomach subsided, once gravity felt almost normal again, Sheena could let out a sigh of relief. It’s not like she was ever _that_ afraid of flying, but it was still reassuring that her friends were here to try and help.

* * *

**Run Away**

It wasn’t long before the airboat—er—airship made it to a safe altitude. Lloyd was the first to get up and stretch his legs, his excitement unable to be contained. He scampered over to the other seats, checking their windows for the view. Whoa! He’d always looked around while flying on the Rheairds before, but this was different somehow! There were windows that limited his view! He didn’t have to focus on flying! And there was no more wind constantly blowing in his face.

That part was a lot worse than you’d think. Being able to sit back in near silence (besides the gentle hum of the engines outside) was way nicer than he’d imagined. Down below he saw the emerald plains shimmer under fluffy clouds, saw how lakes and forests dotted an otherwise pristine flat surface. He noted the hills as they came by and the tall mountains that seemed like they could reach up and pull their airship down.

Neat!

“You’re gonna get bored of this real soon, huh, bud?” Zelos said, standing over Lloyd.

Lloyd frowned. “I am not!”

“You know it usually takes us more than a day to get there right?” He sighed. “We’re gonna be on here for _hours._ ”

“I know!” Lloyd whined.

“And now that the worlds are all smushed back together, we can’t just fly east and get to Flanoir because we’ve got all of Sylvarant over there. So we gotta go allll the way over Mizuho and Ozette, you know?”

“I know!” Lloyd huffed. “Sort of!” He paused. “Okay, so I’m still a little shaky on how the combined world thing works, but I get it! We’re gonna be on the airboat—airship a long time!”

“Yeah, honestly, even I barely get how the worlds being combined works,” Zelos admitted. “Like the logistics of it all…”

“Right!” Lloyd said with a nod. “Like, shouldn’t there be two Noishes now?”

Zelos nearly slipped. “Uh. What?”

Gears were turning in Lloyd’s head. “Or wait, shouldn’t Noishe just be bigger…? Or would we all be bigger too, so we don’t notice it…?”

“Bud. What.”

Lloyd couldn’t quite follow his own train of thought. Something about space and time…? “No, wait, if there were two Noishes, wouldn’t there be two of all of us…?”

“I seriously…” Zelos tried to say, but for some reason couldn’t think of anything else. He shook his head. “Speaking of Noishe… what’d you do with that big dope?”

Lloyd quickly abandoned his Bigger Noishe theory to talk about regular sized Noishe, who was still big. “Oh! Well, I don’t know if you remember, but Regal actually has a little doggy hotel he set up to take in all sorts of dogs!”

Zelos sighed. “How could I forget?”

“Yeah, so Regal said we could keep Noishe there free of charge!”

“Convenient,” Zelos said, sitting down next to Lloyd. “Sort of like this whole boat—er—ship. I dig it.”

“Yeah!” Lloyd said that excitement back in his eyes. “This thing’s amazing! I really love it!” His voice softened and he looked out to the window. Something had struck him… something… something he was trying to forget.

Zelos, a bit more perceptive than Lloyd gave him credit for, raised an eyebrow. “Bud? Something up?”

Lloyd tried to push it out of his mind. He waved Zelos off. “It’s… it’s nothing.”

Zelos was as perceptive as he was pushy, unfortunately. He never was one to respect boundaries. He leaned in, trying to get a better view of Lloyd’s expression. “Hey, come on, you can tell me. I know, I know, I can come off as kind of a jerk, but I’m trying to improve that.”

“You do,” Lloyd said bluntly. “Come off as a jerk that is.”

“Ouch, bud!”

Lloyd sighed. “But you’ve also gotten better.”

“Aw, I knew it!” Zelos quickly pulled Lloyd into a tight headlock. “You’re falling for the ol’ Zelos charm, baby!”

Lloyd sputtered and struggled, popping his head out of Zelos’ aggressively tight grip. “Cut it out! This is not an improvement right here!”

Zelos let out one last chuckle before sitting back in his seat. “Okay! Okay! Sorry. I’ll be good, I promise.” He tilted his head. “Although, if it’s something bothering you, have you told Colette about it?” He gasped. “Oh, or is it _about_ Colette?”

Lloyd grit his teeth. “It’s not about Colette!” He sighed. “I’ve—I’ve already told her about what’s bothering me plenty! I don’t want to bother her with it anymore. Even if she never seems to get bothered by it…!”

“Geez.” Zelos blinked. “It’s that serious, huh? Even angel face couldn’t help…?” Lloyd sighed. “All right, well, I’m here for you, bud.” He took off his smug smile even. “I promise I’ll take you seriously, whatever it is.”

“You won’t make fun of me…?”

“I promise. That’s the old Zelos.” He held up his hand like he was swearing on a book of Martel.

“Okay, well…” Lloyd shifted in his seat and fiddled with his gloves, fingers running over his Exsphere. “It’s about the airb-ship. Sort of.”

Zelos nodded. “You feeling a little nervous? Like Sheena? It’s okay, bud, if anything goes wrong, I’ll—”

“It’s not that!” Lloyd interrupted. “I just… something’s been bothering me. Ever since we left…”

Zelos put a hand on Lloyd’s, showing he was listening. It was weird, but not totally unwelcome, considering Lloyd was having trouble keeping his hands still.

“Regal didn’t let me run down the runway! He didn’t have _anyone_ run down the runway! What’s the point of calling it a runway if no one runs down it? I just don’t get it, Zelos. I really wanted to see if I could run down it and back, but then we boarded, and I didn’t get a chance! Who knows how long it’ll be till I can try again…”

Zelos screamed internally.

* * *

**Draw Back**

Colette was really enjoying her flight. She always enjoyed traveling with Lloyd, Zelos, and Sheena anyway, but this was _especially_ nice! She felt her spirits were even higher than usual, and she had already thought she was as happy as she could be before!

The little hum of the engines, the passing clouds, the sparkling blue of the ocean below… It was all so wonderful! What a lucky girl Colette was to survive and see the world like this. To think, Colette could do anything she wanted! Read a book maybe, or daydream about some doggies, or talk to the others or…

Hm… Maybe that was all she could do, but that was still a lot more than she could usually do on Rheairds!

Colette looked over the seats. Lloyd and Zelos were chatting, maybe arguing, and Zelos appeared to be irritated by something, but that was just how Lloyd and Zelos always were! They were so cute the way they were always rough housing.

Her eyes fell on Sheena. She sighed and stared out the window, elbow down, hand holding up her puffy cheeks. Oh no! Was she bored? Maybe lonely?

Colette shook her head. She had to help! Maybe. If that’s what Sheena wanted. Colette had to remember not everyone wanted help all the time, and Sheena was a person who enjoyed her space. But! At the same time, she did seem to appreciate her friends, or else why would she always be traveling in a group like this? Hm…

 _Don’t think so hard about it!_ Lloyd’s voice said in her mind. _Just do it! Sometimes the best thing you can do is get in there and say whatever! It can’t hurt to ask._

Lloyd’s right! Maybe. When did Lloyd ever say that…? Colette couldn’t remember, but it sounded right enough. She nodded and strolled over to Sheena.

“Hi, Sheena!” Colette said.

Sheena practically snapped awake, quickly taking her head off her hand. “Oh. Hey Colette. What’s u—”

“I-is it okay if I sit with you!?” Colette said a little too eagerly. Oh no, she interrupted Sheena… “Sorry.” Oh no, she said sorry without explaining out loud _why_ she was sorry!

Sheena blinked but smiled anyway. “Yeah, of course it’s okay.”

 _Oh, thank Martel!_ Colette thought to herself as she quickly sat next to Sheena. Sheena always looked so cool! It made Colette so happy to see the way she’d smile. Looking at Sheena when she thought she was alone, she always appeared to be so stoic, so angsty! But whenever anyone got close, she lit up, she let everything out. Colette always respected that about Sheena.

“How, um, how are you? Are you still nervous?” Colette asked politely. _Oh no. Was that a rude question to ask? It’s not like Sheena was that nervous anyway! Maybe we were all making a big deal about it and it made her feel bad!_

“I’m fine,” Sheena said with a smile. “It wasn’t that big of a deal! I still appreciate what you all did for me anyway, though.”

Colette had to swallow down a ‘sorry’ that she instinctively wanted to say, but everyone here, Lloyd, Zelos, and even Sheena had told Colette repeatedly she didn’t need to apologize so much. “You’re welcome!” she said instead. Er. Maybe that was still weird, but it was an improvement.

Sheena let out a light laugh, so casual, so easy. Again, it always surprised Colette to see this masterful ninja open up like this, but it was a happy surprise.

“So, what’s up?” Sheena asked. “You bored or something?”

Colette nearly jumped out of her seat. “I was going to ask you that!!” How exciting!

Sheena laughed again. “You’re so funny, Colette.” She shook her head. “But, yeah, I’ll admit I’m a little bored. It’s not too bad, though. It’s relaxing.”

“I know what you mean!” Colette said with an excited huff. Her hands had curled into little fists. “I feel the same way! It’s not bad, though, like you said!” Colette spent so much of her life feeling isolated, like barely anyone could understand her, so when someone else felt the same way… well that was just neat.

A silence washed over the two. The airboat—ship hummed as always. “So, um.” Sheena cleared her throat. “Did you, uh, want to talk about something…?”

Colette nodded eagerly. “Yes!” She paused. Oh no. Oh geez. She didn’t think this far ahead. Her inner Lloyd told her to come over here, but that’s as far as it went.

“Er… anything… specific on your mind?” Sheena asked.

Colette took in a deep breath. “Not… really!”

Sheena chuckled and shrugged. Colette was so happy to see she wasn’t annoyed at least. “Um, that’s fine, I guess. See any good… dogs lately?”

Colette felt her mind light up. “Oh! Yes! I did! I saw Pepe again and I gave him some pets and he’s still just as sweet as before and…” She paused. “Oh. Right. You were there. You already know that, huh?”

Sheena laughed sheepishly. “Yeah.” She paused. “Er. Well. How was… dinner… last night…?”

Colette nodded. “It was great! I really loved it.” She stopped herself. A sudden realization hit her. _I came over here to talk with Sheena, but she’s the one struggling to talk to me! Ah!!_

“Yeah, it was pretty good,” Sheena said, leaning back into her seat. “Maybe could have used some more spices, but, eh.”

_I’ve gotta think! Something fun. Something… spontaneous! I can be spontaneous, too!_

“Do you wanna play Draw Back with me!?” Colette spurted out.

Sheena lifted an eyebrow. “Uh. What? What’s—uh—Draw Back…?”

Colette gulped. _I’m being weird again! Oh well! Keep going!_ “Oh, that’s right, you wouldn’t know what it is, huh…” She shook her head and went with it anyway. She was determined to be fun! “It’s a game Lloyd made up! I guess we didn’t think much about the title of it.”

Sheena nodded slowly. “Ah. That… makes a lot of sense.” She shrugged. “All right, that’s fine. So, how do we play? Do we need cards or something?” She muttered something low, but Colette accidently (and very rudely) heard with angelic hearing. “…I’ve never seen them playing this game though…”

_Try to ignore that!_

Colette shook her head and made a little noise. “No cards or anything required! Just your hands!” Colette held up her palms happily. “Lloyd made it up when I couldn’t, um, talk and stuff.” She tried to ignore the bad feelings of the past. Tried to remember the good. “Anyway! Basically, all you do is draw with your fingers on the other person and they try to guess what it is just through feel alone!”

“Oh. Okay.” Sheena’s brow raised again. “Er. Why’s it called ‘Draw Back’, then…?”

Colette held up a finger, sort of how Lloyd does his finger guns. It was a habit she couldn’t help but copy. “Oh! Because we found it’s a lot easier if you draw on the person’s bare back! Plus, it feels really nice…” Colette gulped. _Wait. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that last part._

“Uh…” Sheena looked on in what appeared to be horror.

“W-we don’t need to—um—need to draw on each other’s backs though!” Colette stuttered. “Just… palms are—um—good enough!!”

Sheena went back to her easy smile. “Yeah, palms sound good.” She chuckled. “We can move onto backs if you really want later!” She paused, seemingly realizing that there was something wrong with what she said? “Er. Uh…”

“Okay!” Colette said without a hint of hesitation.

“I was joking but,” Sheena sighed. “You know what? It’s fine. Let’s just play.” She added one last bit, “With our palms! Only!”

“Okay!” Colette said happily. This light feeling in her chest—she couldn’t stop smiling! It was just a few minutes ago she thought she couldn’t be happier, yet here she was! Even happier than that! Oh, what a wonderful world! She couldn’t wait for whatever the next moment was that’d make her even happier. “I’ll start so you can get a—hehe— _feel_ for the game!”

Colette quickly held Sheena’s palm, noticing the coarseness of her fingers yet the softness of her skin. It reminded her of Lloyd’s hands, but smoother, maybe a little smaller. Like Lloyd, she wore almost gloves? Her gi left her fingers out but her palm covered by some soft but very thin fabric. Oh, it was so nice to the touch!

“Er, um!” Sheena gulped. She tried to play it cool, but like always, she wore her feelings on her sleeves. Colette didn’t mind. “So, like, okay, do I have limited guesses or anything?”

“Nope!” Colette answered. “You guess as much as you want until you get it! Oh! And it works best with your eyes closed! Trust me!”

“O-okay…” Sheena complied and closed her eyes.

“Here I go!” Colette said. She pressed her finger down into the fabric of Sheena’s palm. Sheena flinched at first, almost like it was ticklish, but took in a deep breath and composed herself.

 _Okay, let’s see…_ Colette thought to herself as she moved the tips of her fingers. _Let’s make it easy… A big circle here… Then move my finger a bit to the left of that and draw a smaller circle up… color that little bit in… then we move down the big circle and make some smaller circles to show off the legs… oh wait! I forgot the ears! Go back up, little motions here, keep it simple!_

“There! Done! Can you guess what it is?”

Sheena sighed. Her palm was still caught by Colette’s gentle grip. “Geez, this is a bit harder than I thought. There was a bunch of circles… the moon?”

“Nope!” Colette said. _If it was the moon, I’d just do a half waning moon! Lloyd always gets it like that._ “Here, I’ll draw it again.”

Her fingers traced along Sheena’s palm, gently, so gently. Sheena shivered a few times, but Colette didn’t mind.

“Is it…” Sheena started. “Some kind of animal? Am I allowed to ask that?”

Colette nodded even though Sheena couldn’t see. “Yes! And yes!”

“Okay, I think I got this,” Sheena said confidently. “It’s a dog, isn’t it?” She laughed.

“Mmhmm! You got it!” Colette cheered. “Okay! Your turn! Unless…” She paused. “I can keep drawing if you want? I know sometimes it can be hard to figure out what to draw.”

“Yeah, actually, how about you keep drawing? I wasn’t really prepared or anything.”

“Sure!”

Colette drew more simple things on Sheena’s palm, really getting into this game. Sheena seemed to really like it too! She was always more competitive than she let on, and Colette could practically feel the excitement when Sheena got a right answer.

“A cloud!”

“Yeah!”

“A… flower?”

“That’s right!”

“A boat...! Er, ship.”

“Yep!”

But eventually, there was one Sheena just couldn’t seem to get. No matter how many times Colette drew it. A big circle… two lines from the middle of it going out, maybe a few dots along the inner rim of that big circle…

“Er… a… cat?”

“Nope.”

“A ring?”

“Not-uh.”

“A halo!”

“Not that.”

“Darn it. I really thought that’d be it.”

A few more tries. Sheena furrowed her brows, focusing. “Ugh! I can’t figure it out! It’s not—it’s not a banana, right??? I think I’m just thinking of bananas.”

“Definitely not a banana,” Colette said with a giggle.

“Argh, I really can’t picture this for some reason…!”

“It’s okay! It always gets harder the longer you play. You get so relaxed, right?”

“Um… yeah, I guess that kind of is it, huh?”

Suddenly, a head popped up by their seat. Lloyd’s eyes glowed like a Raging Beast. He could hardly contain his enthusiasm, his mouth wide open after he said, “Are you guys playing Draw Back!?”

“Wah!” Sheena’s eyes snapped open and she pulled her hand away from Colette’s. “Uh…!”

“Yeah!” Colette said happily.

“Bud! Did you really just ditch me in the middle of our conversation…?”

Lloyd ignored Zelos, way too focused on this now. “I _love_ Draw Back! I’m the champion at it, I swear! Best in the world!”

“It’s true!” Colette said.

Sheena smiled sheepishly. “I don’t doubt that.”

“Can I play? Can I play!?” Lloyd asked, crouching down before them.

“It’s still Sheena’s turn,” Colette said calmly, even as Lloyd’s face fell. “She’s having some trouble, but she can do it!”

Sheena shook her head. “I’m actually pretty stumped. Lloyd can take over for me.”

Lloyd nearly bonked his head on the roof of the airship as he jumped for joy. “Aw, yeah! Okay, okay, let’s go!” He turned around faster than a Tempest and pulled the back of his shirt up revealing a bare back and overalls. “Ker-yoink!”

Colette felt her cheeks heating up and noted the way Sheena’s eyes widened. “Uh… Lloyd…”

“What’s the matter? Everyone knows the back is the best place to draw in Draw Back!” Lloyd explained. “And drawing on clothes makes it _way_ harder.”

Zelos’ mouth was wide open. “Bud, you’re even more daring than I am. Sheesh.”

 _It’s just his back. It’s not like he’s in his underwear again._ Colette shrugged. She drew the same picture on Lloyd’s back as he stood crouched over like a gremlin with his shirt lifted. He nodded along, nearly sagely; eyes clamped tight.

“It’s a clock!” Lloyd said confidently.

“Yep! That’s right, Lloyd!”

Lloyd fist pumped, punching the ceiling on accident. “First try!! All right! Oops.”

“Why am I not surprised you got that so easily?” Sheena said with a sigh.

Zelos poked his head over the seats between them, weirded out. “Those two would make up their own language to talk to each other if they had to.”

“Okay!” Lloyd said, stuffing his shirt back down into his pants. “My turn!”

Without another thought, Lloyd’s hands went under Colette’s shirt, to her back. Colette nearly screamed and practically bumped her head when she shot up from the sudden electricity of it all.

“Bud! What the hell!” Zelos said, appalled. “That’s worse than me!”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Sheena started. “But do you want me to smack Lloyd for you, Colette?”

“Huh!? Why!?” Lloyd and Colette asked at the same time, surprising both Zelos and Sheena.

Colette sat back down with her back towards Lloyd, letting his hands draw on her with ease. His tongue was sticking out, lost in thought as he tried his best to keep drawing. She simply smiled through it all, eyes closed, unable to see Zelos and Sheena’s confused faces. “Oh! It’s Noishe!”

“Yep!!!”

“I don’t think I’ll ever understand them…” Sheena mumbled.

“Same here,” Zelos sighed. “Same here…”

* * *

**Chosen Night**

What felt like days was only hours, and what felt like hours was only a few minutes. At some point the airship drifted into a black cloudy void.

Zelos didn’t expect night to be worse up in this airship than it was on the ground, but man, it was bad. There wasn’t even anything to see when it was this dark. At least during the day, you could _see_ the clouds, but at night it was just… dark. It was nothing. It left him with too much time to think to himself, too little to distract himself with.

Sheena leaned her seat back, eyes closed so seriously, so peacefully. She turned away from Zelos, but he could still faintly make out quiet breathing in her sleep. Even asleep she didn’t make much noise. How could someone like her, someone like Sheena, with so much guilt, sleep so easily? It didn’t make any sense to Zelos.

He poked her arm. She made a grunty snore noise, _very_ unfitting for a ninja. Even in her sleep she managed to swat Zelos away. This, however, only made him happier. He poked her again. Another reaction! Oh, now this was entertainment!

“Ugh, Zelos…” Sheena mumbled, still not turning to face him. “What… is it…?”

Zelos felt his heart almost jump out of his mouth he was so excited. Geez. Why was he feeling like that? “Sheena, hunny~,” he said with a flair, although he noticed how his voice didn’t sound quite as flirty as he wanted. “You wanna play more Draw Back, hm? Hm?” Ah, there we go. He just hadn’t talked in a while, just needed to focus on his voice!

“No, we played enough,” Sheena growled, slapping Zelos’ hand away, but this time with the force of someone who was nearly awake. Ow. “I’m trying to sleep. Go away.”

Zelos rubbed his poor hurt hand. Anger swelled up in his throat and he readied his poking finger again to get back at her! She shifted in her seat and let out a little sigh like she was so tired. Zelos was tired too. He breathed out the anger in his throat and sheathed his poking finger. “Fine,” he grumbled. Sheena didn’t hear him. She was already asleep. Somehow, that only made him more upset.

He looked over the aisle, away from Sheena who had left him to fend for himself. In the dim light of the ship, he saw Lloyd’s body still slumped over three seats all at once, legs and arms strewn about like Palmacosta wine bottles after a party. Unlike Sheena, his mouth was wide open and letting loose some roaring snores that were barely quieter than the literal boat’s—ship’s engine.

No. This wouldn’t work. Zelos had tried poking Lloyd a ton over their travels together whenever he slept. That guy slept harder than Gnome buried in a mountain’s core. It wasn’t even fun to try and bother him.

But, like always, someone else _was_ still awake. It wasn’t just Zelos who had sleeping problems in their travelling crew.

Colette sat by the window, at the far end of the corner of the airship, all to herself, staring down that dark inky black like it was her home. This wasn’t exactly new information to Zelos. He’d seen her stare up at the stars plenty of times when everyone else was supposed to be sleeping. He’d seen the way she sighed and pet Noishe with a sad frown etched onto her lips.

He’d seen it plenty of times. And what did Zelos do about it?

_Nothing._

Absolutely nothing. It was better that way, wasn’t it? What could _Zelos_ of all people say to her? How could he ever compare? He couldn’t relate to her. They were both Chosens, sure, but that was where the similarities ended.

Well. Tonight wasn’t going to be any different.

Although he couldn’t exactly run out of the room and get some fresh air, nor could he just take a stroll through the nearby woods and look at a squirrel and wonder what Lloyd saw in those stupid things.

Ugh! He was annoyed again. He was tired of looking at Sheena’s peaceful sleeping face, tired of trying to be extra quiet around her. Whatever! Zelos got up _very casually_ and stretched his legs in the aisle. Man it was so cramped! His legs were stiffer than he realized. Maybe he’d take Lloyd’s idea and just lay back on three empty seats away from everyone and…

“Oh! Um. Hi, Zelos!” a voice called out.

Huh. What. Were his ears deceiving him? Sheena and Lloyd were asleep…

“Um. Zelos…?” that sweet voice called out again. No, couldn’t be. Why would _she_ call out to _him_.

Sure enough, when Zelos turned around with a flourish, Colette’s hopeful face was looking up at him. Why…?

“Hey there, Angel-face,” Zelos said before strolling over to his new corner to sit down. She was just being polite and saying hello. It made sense. Zelos knew better than to press his luck and—

“Oh, are you having trouble sleeping again?” she asked.

What? She knew?!

Zelos put a finger on his chin. Well. It made sense she knew. Angelic hearing and all that. She wasn’t stupid. Oh. She was waiting for him to talk.

“Nah!” Zelos waved it off. Oho, that one came out perfect. “Just stretchin’ my legs and finding a better spot to relax in!”

“Oh…” Colette’s voice drifted into the dark, beneath the engines. “I was just wondering if—um—you wanted to sit with me, but if you’re going to sleep then I don’t want to bother you. Sorry.”

Zelos couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Whoa, what? Why would _you_ want _me_ to sit with you? Don’t you have Lloyd for that?” Argh. He was losing his cool. He should have said _‘Who wouldn’t want to sit with the Great Zelos~?’_ But he couldn’t.

Not with Colette.

“Um, well,” Colette fiddled with a strand of blonde hair. “Lloyd already stays up so late with me… I always keep him up. I couldn’t bear the thought of waking him again because of me. He already isn’t getting enough sleep usually and it’s my fault, so, um…”

It was hard to keep his usual enthusiasm together. It was late. He was tired. Couldn’t sleep. Besides, Colette knew Zelos was lying. She of all people knew Zelos was a liar. So, when his voice came out cold and harsh, it didn’t surprise him. “Wouldn’t it bother Lloyd knowing I’m sitting with you so late at night?”

“Huh?” Colette was surprised though, somehow. She didn’t really believe Zelos’ act, did she? She, a fellow Chosen, a Chosen from a dying world no less, she knew that Zelos was acting, right? “No, I don’t think so? Why would it?”

And that was all it took. Just like that, it made sense. Lloyd really wouldn’t mind, of course he wouldn’t. It was Zelos who minded, it was Colette who _should_ have minded. But she didn’t. Again, it made sense, even in his wildest nightmares, he couldn’t imagine Colette yelling at him, but…

“Well, you got me there.” Zelos shrugged and plopped down into a seat next to her. He put his feet up on the arm rest on the seat ahead.

She didn’t flinch! Why? She should have flinched. Instead she just smiled. It was wrong, all wrong. She shouldn’t smile at him.

“Thank you for sitting with me,” Colette said, so grateful. Grateful! To Zelos! What a joke! “Sorry for being a bother.”

At that, Zelos snapped. “Sorry? What? What are _you_ sorry for? You should never say sorry to anyone considering what you’ve done for this world.” His words came bubbling up into his throat, as if they’d been boiling in his stomach for years without his knowing. “You have nothing to apologize for. Nothing! _Especially_ to me.”

She stiffened. A sad frown cracked through her smile. Zelos could tell she wanted to apologize again for that.

“Geez,” Zelos sighed and put his legs down. It wasn’t comfortable at all like this. He was just doing it for show. “I’m such an idiot. I meant _I’m_ the one that should be sorry.”

Colette tilted her head. She was genuinely confused, because of _course_ she was. She couldn’t see the bad in anyone but herself. “Why would you be sorry…?”

Don’t do it, Zelos! Don’t say it! Don’t go saying everything like you’ve always wanted to say for so many years! What’s it gonna do, huh? Make her feel worse? Make her hate you more? You don’t deserve to say it, don’t you—

“What _aren’t_ I sorry about, Angel-face?” Zelos tried to smirk but it came out all wrong. The darkness of the night outside was leaking into the airship, onto their dimly lit seats, into his chest. “I’ve done nothing but make things harder for everyone, for you especially.”

“That’s not true!” Colette shouted, her golden hair shimmering even against the dark. He didn’t expect her to be so quick. “You’ve been traveling with us for so long, helping us find more Exspheres, protecting us!”

“Oh, come on.” Zelos’ voice cut through her optimism with ease. His cynicism was sharper than any dagger in his repertoire. “I betrayed you all. I put everyone in danger. I put _you_ in danger. I _kidnapped_ you! After everyone, after everyone went through the trouble to save you, after you sacrificed yourself and came _back_ , I nearly sacrificed you _again!_ ”

Colette’s hands curled into fists, and something stupid in Zelos’ mind expected her to punch him right in the face. “But you didn’t! Regardless of what you almost did, you helped everyone! You helped me! You’ve been helping me!”

“I—” Zelos started. He was used to arguments. He won them all the time! Sheena, Lloyd, nobles, royalty, even Genis a few times! But Colette… he couldn’t.

“I’m—I’m sorry,” Colette said again. “I always knew there was something bothering you, but I was too afraid to bring it up. If you really hate traveling with me, you shouldn’t feel like you have to!”

“Are you kidding?” Zelos threw his hands out. “I love travelling with you guys! Especially you, Colette. I just… how in the world am I supposed to compete with you?”

“Um… huh?”

Zelos felt the word stew he’d been eating silently to himself coming back up. “You’re perfect, Angel-face! You care about everyone! You literally sacrificed yourself to save your world. I couldn’t… I could never do that.”

“I’m—I’m not perfect! I don’t want to compete with anyone!” Colette argued, in that strange tone Zelos had never heard before, in a way Zelos would never be able to argue with. “I’m not proud of sacrificing myself. I don’t think that’s something anyone should be proud of. I didn’t do it for anyone. I didn’t even want to do it! I felt like I _had_ to. I…”

Zelos scratched the back of his neck. Colette’s sapphire eyes shined with a ferocity he’d never know yet glimmered with tears. “Colette, I didn’t mean to say anything like that…” Ugh. The Idiot Chosen strikes again.

“It’s—um—it’s okay!” Colette said with determination again, her hands balled up still. “I just, I want you to know you’re important to me! I’m sorry if that’s weird to say, but I know you! I think! I know you bottle things up! Sort of like me! I know you feel guilty about everything, just like me!”

Zelos sighed, slumping down in his chair so much that he nearly fell onto the floor like a puddle. “Even now, even after everything, you’re still looking out for me, huh Angel-face? More proof you’re the way better version. I don’t des—”

Colette shook her head. “You do deserve it. I think you think like I do a lot. It’s, um… because we’re Chosens. Right?”

Zelos shrugged but couldn’t help but lift himself up. Her enthusiasm was inspiring, and, truth be told, Zelos figured she was getting some cathartic release out of this, too. Maybe he wasn’t as good at this as she was, but he was doing something. Something’s better than nothing.

“Got me there,” Zelos said. “I spent my whole life thinking I was the only Chosen, thinking I was the only one like this.”

Colette nodded. “I did, too. It’s lonely, isn’t it?”

Something in Zelos chest lit up. The cloudy darkness that fogged up his mind was clearing. “Girl, you know it.”

She giggled. “I do!”

“You’d think it’d be great, right?” Zelos said, energy returning, that mask reshaping over his face easier. Was it a mask? Or was it just his face? Ah, who cares! Enough of these angsty ‘mask’ metaphors! “Everyone staring at you all day! But they’re all so… expectant!”

Colette nodded again even faster. “Yeah! It’s so—it’s—”

Zelos snickered. “It’s okay, you can say it.”

“It’s terrible! I hated it!” Colette nearly shouted but must have remembered her friends were napping not too far from here. “Sorry. That’s probably awful to say.”

“No, no! You’re totally right, I feel you so much!” Zelos went on. “Even when your world doesn’t _need_ regenerating, people just… expect things of you, you know?”

“I know!!!” Colette said, so happy, practically bouncing up and down in her ability to share awful personal experiences.

“Like, seriously, the service at a restaurant is subpar, and _I swear_ , people will look at _me_ like I should talk to the manager or something!”

“No way!! You got that, too??”

Zelos practically choked on his laughter. “I’m the one that should be saying that! Your world needed you to sacrifice yourself, and people were looking at you to talk to the manager?”

Colette nodded. “Y-yeah! Like! I’m awkward enough! I can’t do it!”

“Pft, I’ve learned how to do it, but lemme tell ya, it doesn’t help anything because then the employees just hate you. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t, and either way you still feel guilty.”

“Yeah! It’s so true!” Colette said, giggling up a storm.

The two Chosens talked and talked like this for who knew how long. The dark skies outside at some point didn’t seem that dark as they chattered away, talking about experiences they had as Chosens, talking about the feelings they had that no one else on the planet could ever understand.

And somehow… somehow, Zelos felt his eyelids getting heavy. And for once, his head wasn’t a swirling storm of lightning and anger. It was clear, easy, maybe even a little empty. Colette must have been feeling it as well.

It was the first time he fell asleep without realizing it. He wasn’t sure who fell asleep first.

* * *

**Raging Beast**

A tremor shook Lloyd awake, throwing him from his comfy dreams above the clouds and onto the floor of the airship. He shook his head, trying to throw the sleepy fog out of his brain when another tremor knocked him over. He rushed to his feet, smacking his head on the seat. “What—OW—is going on?!”

Light was streaming in through the windows again, early morning light. It should have been bright and cheerful, but something about it wasn’t right. Lloyd scanned the cabin for his friends. Sheena grumbled angrily but was quickly at the ready. Zelos and Colette at the back were rubbing the sleep out of their eyes.

Zelos yawned. When nothing else happened he said, “Maybe it’s just turbulence?” And like it was waiting to make a fool out of Zelos, the airship rocked again, this time even harder. Lloyd made out a dark shape in the clouds before it struck and knocked the group off their feet again.

“Attention,” a stern voice said through crackly speakers. It was Regal! Oh yeah, he was here! “We’re under attack. Please brace yourself. We appear to have caught the attention of a young territorial dragon.”

When the clouds thinned out, Lloyd saw it. Black scales gleamed under the morning sun like an executioner’s axe. It let out a screeching roar from its rows of sharp teeth. It kept up with the airship easily, slamming into it with its massive body. It looked like it was just around the same size as the airship, and it certainly wasn’t happy about it.

“What do we do?!” Lloyd asked the speakers, as if Regal could hear him.

Regal still managed to respond anyway. “I will take evasive maneuvers, but I’m afraid I can’t outrun the creature. If it keeps damaging the airboat—er—airship at this rate, we may need to make a crash landing.”

“It’s because this thing is Noishe shaped isn’t it?!” Zelos wailed clutching his face. “I _knew_ the design was bad!”

Another knock, another shake, another tumble. Their supplies rattled and fell out of the overhead compartments. Sheena pulled herself back up, angry. “He’s probably right! Noishe is the least intimidating, most prey-like creature on the whole planet!”

Colette wiggled and waved her arms like hummingbird wings before clutching onto one of the seats. “Um… that is kind of true. I still think it’s a really cute design, though!”

A rumble opened something up and Zelos’ shield came tumbling down right onto his head. “Ow! It’s really not cute when it’s going to get us all killed!”

Lloyd reached for his swords and made sure they were tied tightly at his waist. The dragon smashed into them once more. It wasn’t going to tire out anytime soon. The fact that the airship wasn’t fighting back only seemed to make the beast braver.

“We need to stop it then!” Lloyd decided.

 _Another_ shield fell out and bonked Zelos on the head. “Ow! How do you expect us to do that, bud!?”

“I dunno!” Lloyd threw his hands up. “But we have to do something!” Without thinking on it more than that, he burst through the door into the cockpit with Regal.

All sorts of lights were blinking and blaring, and Regal was clearly struggling with the controls. Probably more so due to the handcuffs, but look, Lloyd wasn’t one to judge. “Regal! We can handle that dragon! We’ve fought plenty of them before! I just don’t know _how_ to get to it!”

Regal clearly wanted to put a hand under his chin to think about his next move, but again, the handcuffs and the dragon and the whole piloting-a-massive-hunk-of-metal-through-the-skies-thing were happening. “I have a theory, but it is untested at best.”

“We’ll do whatever!” Lloyd shouted back as another tremor hit.

Regal had to shout over the several alarms, his usual tact and grace lost slightly. Only slightly. “The airboat—ship is powered by mana! Volt’s mana to be precise! Summon spirit energy courses through this! I believe with Sheena’s capabilities, you can shield yourself from the elements and, in a way, magnetize yourself to the ship’s outer hull, allowing you all to defeat the dragon!”

Sheena quickly popped into the tiny doorway. “What?! Are you sure?! I feel like that’s not how things work?”

Zelos also stuck his head in. “Yeah, like, I’ve studied physics and I really don’t think—”

Colette plopped her head in on the very top, her wings fluttering behind. “It’s magic, though! Not physics!”

Lloyd struggled with the four of them all crowding the doorway. “It’s not like we have any better options! Besides, Regal is plenty smart and probably studies magic like physics!”

Regal gave a half shrug. “Economics mostly, but—”

Another rumble shook the group and they fell into a tangled heap of limbs and wings. Sheena groaned under everyone. “Okay, fine! Whatever! Let’s just do it! I’d rather we didn’t crash!”

Regal nodded. “You’ll find the emergency exit door to the left of the cabin.” He cleared his throat. “Where the dragon is attacking. I’d suggest being ready before opening it.”

“I’m _pretty_ sure the air pressure would cause us all to be sucked out of the airship,” Zelos tried to add, pulling himself free of the others.

“But! Volt!” Colette argued. “A-and mana!”

“Colette’s right!” Lloyd said, hoping up to his feet and running to the door. “We’ve also got wings!”

“ _You’ve_ all got wings!” Sheena yelled, but still she followed Lloyd to the emergency door all the same.

“Correction,” Zelos said with his usual smug flair. “Colette and I have wings we actually know how to use.” Another shield happened to tumble out and smack him on the head. “OW, come ON, why do I have this many shields?!”

“Zelos and I will carry you two out,” Colette said seriously. “Sheena, you heard Regal, your mana will keep us magnetized to the boat—ship. We’ll get on top and we’ll scare that dragon away or bop it on the head till it learns its lesson.”

Sheena’s face was pale, but she nodded all the same. “Fine! Might as well! Let’s get this over with!” She took in a deep breath. “I call upon the hammer of godly lightning. I summon thee. Come! Volt!” She sputtered. “And, uh, please make us magnetized to the airship, I guess? If you can do that? Also, like, please don’t summon inside the boat—er—ship.”

The dragon outside was already barreling towards the ship for another slam but quickly stopped in its tracks when a floating purple orb with eyes appeared beside it. It flinched and screeched, but that only appeared to anger it. It wasn’t going to stop for long.

Volt made grumbling sounds like pure static and Lloyd thought about how helpful Raine’s translation would be around this time. Still, he was overcome with a tingling sensation through his body, like energy was flowing through every part of his body. He reached for the door handle and it shocked him. “Ow! I think it’s working!”

“I guess?!” Zelos whined.

“Only one way to find out!” Colette said, grabbing Lloyd into her arms, mana wings flickering under the dangerous morning light. “I’ll carry Lloyd! Zelos, you carry Sheena!”

“Ugh.” Sheena groaned. Zelos grinned and raised his eyebrows. “Fine. But I swear, if you try anything funny, I will bring us both down to our deaths.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way, hunny.” Zelos quickly scooped up Sheena with a few labored grunts.

“What, too heavy for you?”

“No, Sheena, just, ugh! I’m not used to carrying an entire other human! How does Colette do it…?!”

Lloyd knew it wouldn’t be long before the dragon came back. This was their chance and they had to take it. It helped being held in Colette’s strong but oh-so-soft arms! And her coat was so big, like a blanket and… _Yawn…_ Oh wait!

“Okay, guys!” Lloyd said, snapping awake. He reached for the emergency handle a few times, cursing each time it shocked him before finally grabbing it. “Get ready! We have to go! Now!”

Zelos and Sheena quit their bickering and nodded. Zelos’ crystalline wings hummed at his back. Colette cradled Lloyd deeper into her chest, holding him tighter than ever before.

“All right!” Lloyd threw the door open and screamed, “Let’s go!” over the howling winds and the roaring dragon.

It certainly didn’t take much to get the group to jump out, considering they were pretty much pulled out. Colette and Zelos handled it with grace, however. Sheena screamed a bit and maybe pulled Zelos’ hair, sure, but he still held out long enough to get them to the top of the airship.

Colette’s boots appeared to snap onto the metal and same with Zelos. Lloyd hopped out of her arms and felt the strangeness of it all. It wasn’t quite like he was glued onto the airship like he’d originally thought it’d be. It was more like there was a force pulling, forcing him to stay in the airships’ general vicinity. Raine told him about this once! It was like… gravy or something? Gravy-tea?

The wind pounded against their bodies and slashed through his clothes, but Lloyd stood tall. Colette and Zelos’ hair blew around like crazy, but it mostly stayed out of their faces enough. Sheena was the smartest one with her hair tied up, but she was still clinging to Zelos like a kitten in a tree.

“I really don’t get how this is working!” Zelos screamed over the engines and the wind. “But it’s working I guess!”

Sheena finally scrambled out of Zelos’ arms and jumped onto the airship’s roof. She probably expected the green fur paint on Noishe’s mane to be slippery, but it wasn’t! Just like the real Noishe. Once she regained her composure, she shouted, “Volt! Can you, uh, close the door after us? It’s probably not good to keep it open.”

Volt, a being of pure energy, seemed to shrug. He grumbled something and the door slammed shut. Now Lloyd couldn’t understand the ancient language of a god born from infinity, but he imagined it said something like, _‘Yeah it was gonna be fine. I was handling it, but whatever.’_

The dragon, clearly about as confused by all this as the rest of the group, only stayed confused for so long. It was soon back to its aggressive teen angst phase, wanting to prove itself to _someone_. Probably not it’s mom, because Lloyd might have taken care of its mom a long time ago with that whole Dragon Nest thing…

Come to think about it, that dragon was looking even angrier than before. Huh! What are the odds they’d run into a dragon from that old place! Either way, it wasn’t going to bully them or their cool Noishe boat—er—airship anymore!

Just before it could slam its body into them, Lloyd’s body swirled and shimmered with energy. His swords sparkled and sent out a shockwave that sent the dragon sprawling back and howling. Ha! A Beast for a beast!

Colette followed up with her chakrams, slicing and cutting into its tough scales like buzz saws. Sheena slapped it with several of her cards, each singeing and burning into it or causing some ninja effect that Lloyd never really understood. Strings of powerful electricity shot off Zelos’ blade, zapping the dragon right in its wings! “Lightning Blade! Super Lightning Blade!” he cried out for some reason.

“Why do you always have to say that…?” Sheena grumbled.

“I just like to, okay?! LIGHTNING BLADE!”

The dragon fell with a screech under the clouds, the constant pummeling and screaming a torture it simply couldn’t endure. And for a moment, even in this tornado of winds, traveling at speeds Lloyd could barely even fathom, things seemed calm. The clouds thinned and Lloyd could see the cold ocean sparkling like snowflakes beneath them. Icebergs and freezing rocks littered the seas, and he knew they must be nearing Flanoir.

But that was it. Where was the dragon…?

Another screech bore into their skulls as the dragon shot up from the tail end of the airship. It hissed and dove down onto the Noishe ship, claws gripping into the metal like it was nothing more than a tree branch.

Sheena was the first one on it, dodging its razor-sharp wings and cliché fire breath. With a battle cry, she delivered a swift kick right into its face that’d make Regal proud. It screamed in frustration, flapping its wings to regain its balance, but it wasn’t done yet. Sheena kept hold of it, clinging to it like she did to Zelos, striking it with each of her cards’ attacks.

Zelos went in slashing with more than a few LIGHTNING BLADEs and SUPER LIGHTNING BLADES and maybe a LIGHT-SPEAR CANNON if he was feeling creative, but it seemed like Volt’s power was really helping him with those stabs. He went for its soft underside, its feet, hoping to trip the horrid thing.

With the others keeping it busy, Colette had time to pray to the heavens and rain down a holy Judgement on this violent creature. The gods and goddesses of Colette’s heaven deemed this dragon rude and mean for attacking their ultra-cute Noishe airship. Rays of light poured upon the dragon, striking it endlessly, over and over, bopping it right in the head, yelling, _‘What a bad dragon you’re being right now!’_

And finally… Lloyd.

Now, anyone else, they’d say his next move was stupid! They’d say, _‘Why would you use that move? Did you fall asleep in my class where I taught you not to mess with things going at nearly the speed of sound while above the clouds!?’_ And he’d say proudly to her, _‘Yes! I did! TEMPEST BEAST!’_

His body became a flurry of swords and energy, a pure embodiment of Lloyd if there had ever been one. His Tempest tore into the dragon’s scales along with everyone else’s attacks and knocked it off balance. But it wasn’t over yet, in case you forgot what this move was called. As he landed back on the airship’s roof, in one fluid motion, he threw out all of that energy, all of that excitement out into the world and into the beast’s stomach.

The dragon cried out in pain and roared, flying off the side of the boat—er—ship, completely defeated. It splashed into the cold ocean like a cannonball, and that’d probably cool off its temper tantrum. Hopefully it’d learn not to mess with people again!

Although… while beating the dragon was good and all, Lloyd had _maybe_ forgotten one important detail. Sheena was _on_ the dragon when he went throwing it off into the ocean. So…

Sheena screamed, flailing her arms and desperately trying to grab onto anything.

“Oh, geez,” Lloyd groaned, sprinting for her flying body. Just before she fell, Lloyd leapt forward onto his stomach, just barely grabbing her by the arm.

Sheena dangled like a kite in a typhoon, completely powerless as the engines and wind screamed all around her. Oh, man, this was familiar. It was just like that one time Lloyd let her fall into an abyss… that one thing Sheena was afraid of happening! Not again! Curse these irony-filled narrative foils!

“Sheena! Sheena, don’t worry!” Lloyd yelled, trying his best to keep his grip on her. “I—I won’t leave you to fall again, I promise!”

“I’d really prefer you didn’t this time!” Sheena screamed back. “Not that I didn’t, you know, say it was fine last time! Don’t want to guilt you or anything!”

Lloyd had to hold on! But it was just… so hard! How could he keep his grip on her when they rushed through the skies like this?! He felt her slipping through his fingers. He couldn’t keep ahold of her! He was going to let her down again! No, no, no! Come on, Lloyd, come on!

“Hold on, bud, we’ve got you!” Zelos yelled, grabbing his and Sheena’s arm.

“We won’t let you fall!” Colette said, determined. Her wings flitted out behind as she grabbed both Zelos and Lloyd at the same time.

With Colette’s strength, they were pulled back to the roof almost immediately, Sheena and all. Sheena huffed and just generally clung to anything or anyone she could. Sheena yelled something out to Volt that was like, “PLEASE open the door, let’s GO BACK INSIDE. NOW.”

And as quickly as possible, the two angels carried the flightless back into the cabin, shutting the emergency door tight.

“A job well done, friends,” Regal’s voice spoke through the speakers. “You have all performed admirably. I see no sign of the dragon, and I expect us to reach our destination shortly without any complications. I apologize deeply for putting you all in danger and you can rest assured that I will never forget the sin I have committed today and…”

Regal went on about his sin for a little longer than everyone wanted, but truth be told, they were exhausted both emotionally and physically. They were just happy to be okay.

* * *

**Packed Man**

Flanoir’s crisp snow was a breath of fresh air for the group after being packed in that airship for so long. Lloyd and Colette brought out their biggest and fluffiest scarves and sweatshirts, looking like they’d just put on the tackiest, dorkiest armor. Even Sheena and Zelos made sure to put on a few layers, some jackets, earmuffs, gloves, and that was it! They weren’t as dorky as Lloyd and Colette they told themselves!

Sheena and Lloyd sat together outside one of the many cute cafes that had been appearing in Flanoir. The awning protected them from the snow while also letting them gaze out into the quiet white of the town.

And more importantly Pac-Man!!!

Lloyd insisted they all go to the café that had seats near the snow sculptures. He loved those sculptures. Especially Pac-Man.

“Who was he!!!” Lloyd shouted, holding out his hands, marveling at the big sphere of a man. “What did he do?! I wish I could meet him!”

Sheena shrugged. She really didn’t get it. “I… don’t know? He was probably Flanoir’s warrior hero or something?”

Zelos appeared behind them with a smirk. In his hands he held two steaming cups of famous Flanoir hot cocoa with all the works: whipped cream that looked as fluffy as the snow, little bits of sweet cinnamon at its peaks, complete with marshmallows like the icebergs that dotted the seas around Flanoir.

“I heard that Pac-Man guy defeated a whole haunted maze full of ghosts,” Zelos said, taking a seat and handing Sheena her hot chocolate.

Colette popped in with a cheer as well, two of the same hot and steamy drinks in her mittens too. “I heard he was just a guy who was really good at eating!! He ate all sorts of fruit, faster than anyone ever in the whole world!” She sat down next to Lloyd and gave him his cocoa.

Lloyd took a safe sip of the sweet drink, noting the way it made sugary crystals form out of his breath. It warmed his body and soul. “I wonder if he did all those things? Ate fruit and maybe also ate ghosts!”

“Now that’d be way too dumb, bud.” Zelos laughed, gulping his cocoa down. Yeah, sure, it was hot, and maybe he’d get some burns, but that instant heat! Hoo, baby! Zelos would deal with the burns later. He coughed and cleared his throat, ignoring the pain. “So, what’d you guys think of the airboat—airship ride? We gotta tell Regal about it and we’ve gotta take a trip back when we’re done with those Penguinists anyway.”

Colette held her cup with both hands, loving the cozy feeling in her fingertips again. Losing that sensation always made her appreciate touch so much more. “I think it was great! We really got to Flanoir a lot faster than we usually do and I could relax the whole time!” Lloyd nodded along with Colette like she was the smartest girl on the planet, coming up with words he could never figure out how to express.

Sheena left her drink out for a while. Patience was the best way to play this. Plus, she could enjoy the overall sight and aesthetic of it longer before getting to drink it at the perfect temperature. “I mean, I can see the appeal of that,” Sheena started, leaning back. “I, personally, felt a little cramped and went kind of stir-crazy in there after a while. Plus, you know, the whole dragon thing.”

“Gotta agree with Sheena there,” Zelos said with a nod.

Lloyd took another sip of his drink, but it was too much and too hot all at the same time! He quickly stuffed a marshmallow in there to try and take some heat off. “Well, I think our trips won’t always be that long, and if they are, we should pack some more things to do! Plus, I don’t think getting attacked by a dragon is going to be a very common thing.”

Colette scooched into Lloyd’s shoulder, eyes sparkling like snowflakes in the sky. “Yeah! It’s an overall positive experience! I think it’ll really make the world a better place!”

“Can’t argue with that.” Zelos smirked.

“Really never can argue with Colette, huh?” Sheena admitted with a sigh.

“Hee-hee,” Colette giggled, snuggling into her cozy Lloyd-shaped Lloyd.

“I’m sensing a bit of a smug aura coming from you,” Lloyd pointed out with a chuckle.

“Maybe! But I’m just really happy we all get to travel together like this and make the world a better place.”

Zelos and Sheena exchanged a glance. They smiled. “I’m glad, too,” Sheena said.

“Yeah.” Zelos, and probably the whole group, noticed his smiles were getting more and more genuine as their travels went on.

They spent the rest of the day relaxing, talking, playing in the snow, and enjoying the cozy sights Flanoir had to offer. The Penguinists would have to be dealt with, and they’d get to that! They promised! Just… tomorrow. Today was a day of a relaxation and fun, and while their adventure may be long and arduous, it insured there would be many more days like this to come, spent together.


End file.
